Corrected GT Parent meeting info

Here is the correct info for the meeting. Sorry for any confusion, but we didn't have the school confirmed until recently.

Date: Wed May 14th, 6:30-8pm
Location: Meridian Library

Please post topics you want on the agenda! We haven't put one together yet because we want this to be everyone's meeting.

Also, please respond if you plan to attend, so we have an idea of how many people will be there.

thanks -
diane

Next GT Parent Meeting - May 7th

A few changes since I posted earlier today - all changes are in red.
Please respond if you plan to attend, and also to add your agenda topics.

Hi everyone -

There seemed to be interest in the parents getting together for another meeting, so let's do it!

Let's plan on meeting:
Date: Wed May 14th, 6:30-8pm
Location: Kristen and Kevin Kelly's house

Thanks to the Kellys for offering their house to hold the meeting. We moved the date because of a 3rd grade school event I was not aware of. More details will be coming.

The school (actually the district) charges to use Meridian for meetings. I don't know how much, but I have a call into the district contact.

We have a tentative meeting place at the Broadlands Golfcourse for this date. The manager there was willing to give us a deep discount, but it would still be $50 for the space (versus the $250-300 normal fee). If we split this it would be maybe $5 or less per family. I don't like the idea for long term, but perhaps just to get us started.

I have left messages at my church and the community center, and will continue to check around for free spaces. If anyone has ideas, let me know. Or if anyone has enough space in their home, and would be willing to host, that would be great.

Please post topics you would like to discuss, and I will put together an agenda.

I hope to see you all then.

Diane Sandstrum

GT Support Groups

Hi all,

I talked with the facilitators for the district GT Parent Support Group that I've been attending. They recommended a couple of things that I thought would interest you all. First, they told me that the SENG model, after which the groups are modeled, is used for groups made up of people from a variety of schools. This makes the discussion groups more focused on improving our own parenting skills instead of focusing on improving the GT program at our school.

Also, they recommended that we email Peter Traxler at the district to request more SENG groups for next year.

Emily

Subscribe to the Meridian G&T Blog

I just added a couple of options to stay abreast of updates on the Meridian G+T Blog.

You can now subscribe with an RSS Reader or have an update of the previous day's sent to your email in box.

Please spread the word!

school choices

I don't mean to be non-supportive of what Meridian is trying to accomplish with their GT programs here, but I was also wondering if any of you have looked at other schools/programs and what you found. I have been researching other information sources on gifted children and their needs and the general theory is they need a different academic program, not just a pull out in certain subjects. Along with the impending larger class sizes at Meridian I felt I owed it to myself and my kids to atleast look around. I'm curious if anyone else has also done this and what you found or thought. Thanks for any input. Sherry Carlo

Support Group

Thanks, Kevin, for taking the initiative to create a group and for setting this up. I would like to see if there is interest in creating a "G/T Support Group" at Meridian, similar to the one the district invited us to but only a few could get in. I know there were a couple parents who have been attending the District's group, and it sounds like it's basically a chance to share stories and have discussions based on the book "Guiding the Gifted Child." I wonder how feasible it would be to do this on our own, kind-of like a book discussion group? Those of you who have attended the District group, does this seem like it would work based on your experiences? Do you think we would need a leader, or could we just all read a chapter (or 2 or 3) and get together? I'm just brainstorming ideas, but I do know I was so disappointed not to have this opportunity NOW. I have the letter from the district invite, with the session topics, and we could basically follow that guideline. I'm not sure I'm able to be much of a leader or organizer, but I'm throwing the idea out there in case anyone is interested. If so, let's at-least arrange a meeting to get together and make a plan. - Sarah Bender (son, Adam, in 4th)

Invites to join blog sent to Feb 26 Attendees

If you were on the sign in list from the meeting on February 26, you should recieve an invite to become an author on the Meridian GT Blog. This means that you will be able to create blog posts and make comments on posts.

For now this blog will be viewable by the public but only members (aka authors) will be able to create blog posts and add comments.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me @ kevin.kelly@app-x.com

I will probably hold off on replying to each question and instead I will wait a few days and send a general reply to a group of questions.

Best regards,

Kevin Kelly